Three hundred and fortieth chapters, soldiers front turn
In the fourth year of Xianping (AD 1001), the imperial court ordered Lü Mengzheng to serve as his official Tongping Zhangshi and a bachelor of Zhaowenguan. Since this dynasty, only Zhao Pu and Lv Mengzheng have been appointed prime ministers three times. After the suburban ceremony, they were granted the title.
He was the Sikong and his servant. When Lu Meng was at home, he heard about Yang Peng and that Yang Peng had built a new city. Lu Meng made a special trip from Luoyang to Tianjing New City near Cangzhou before taking office.
Lu Mengzheng, courtesy name Shenggong, was a native of Luoyang, Henan Province. His ancestral home was in Junzhai Village, Chenggang Road Street, Laizhou City. He was prime minister in the early Northern Song Dynasty. In the second year of Taiping and Xingguo (977 AD), Lu Mengzheng was admitted as the first Jinshi
, was appointed as the general eunuch and promoted to the prefectural magistrate. When bidding farewell to the emperor, the emperor ordered that if there is any inconvenience in political affairs, he is allowed to ride a post horse to come to appeal and give him 200,000 yuan. He will be transferred back to the capital.
When Taizong of the Song Dynasty personally conquered Taiyuan, he was summoned to the palace to meet him, and was appointed as the author of the book, direct history museum, and Zuo Shiyi.
In the fifth year of Taiping and Xingguo's reign (AD 980), Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty personally appointed him as Zuo Buque, who knew how to make imperial edicts. At first, his father Lu Guitu had many family members, and he was at odds with his legitimate wife Liu, so Liu and Lu Mengzheng were included together.
After being driven out, Lu Mengzheng and his son were very poor and distressed, and Mrs. Liu vowed not to marry anyone else. After Lu Mengzheng became an official, he welcomed his parents to live with them. They lived in the same house but in different rooms. Lu Mengzheng served them very attentively.
Lü Guitu died soon after, and the imperial court ordered him to reinstate Lü Mengzheng. Soon after, he was promoted to a doctor in the Duguanzhong, and entered the court as a Hanlin bachelor. He was promoted to Zuo Jianyi doctor, and participated in political affairs. He was given a residence in Lijingmen.
After Li Fang was deposed as prime minister, Lv Mengzheng was appointed as the Minister of Zhongshu and the Minister of Household Affairs, Tongping Zhangshi, and supervised the compilation of national history. Lv Mengzheng was a kind and tolerant man, had a high reputation, adhered to the right path and was self-disciplined. He dared to speak out when encountering problems.
, every time when discussing current affairs, if something was unfair, he would insist on opposing opinions, and the emperor praised him for being able to hide nothing. Zhao Pu was the founding father of the country, and Lu Meng was the official who was promoted later. He served in various official positions for twelve years, so they were both prime ministers.
Zhao Pu praised him very much. Soon after, his mother was bereaved, and after less than three years of mourning, he was re-appointed.
Previously, when Lu Duoxun was the prime minister, his son was awarded the title of Wailang, a member of the Ministry of Water Resources, as soon as he became an official. Later, it was regarded as a regular practice. In this regard, Lu Mengzheng reported: "I was born as a Jinshi, and when I became an official, I was only awarded the ninth rank.
Beijing officials. Moreover, there are many talented people in the world who live in seclusion in the mountains and forests all their lives, and there are many people who do not receive any salary from the court. Now, my son has just grown up and is favored by this appointment. I am afraid that I will be condemned by God. I ask you to use the time when I first became an official.
The official position was appointed to him." From then on, the son of the prime minister was only awarded to the ninth grade Beijing official, which became a legal system.
In the early years of the Dao period (AD 995), Lu Mengzheng was ordered to serve as the general magistrate of Henan Prefecture and the left-resident of Xijing as the right servant. After Lu Mengzheng arrived in Luoyang, he often invited relatives to have dinner parties, advocated laxity in political affairs, and appointed staff to handle political affairs.
I only make the overall decision.
When Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty came to the throne, he moved Lü Mengzheng to serve as Zuopushe. When the imperial court was building Fengxi Mausoleum, Lü Mengzheng recalled the generous favor given by Dai Xianchao and contributed more than 3 million of his family wealth to supplement the construction funds. Song Taizong was buried
That day, Lu Meng was lying on the ground weeping extremely sadly, and people thought it was in line with the courtesy of a minister.
Lu Meng was walking by the river in Yanshan County with his bodyguards, and was shocked by the scene of land reclamation in full swing. These days, the war is chaotic and the situation is precarious. The bureaucrats and gentry don't know what will happen tomorrow. When thinking about things, they are becoming more and more short-sighted and only think about things.
How can we oppress small farmers with no background? The water conservancy facilities in various places are in a mess. But if there is a little natural disaster, small disasters can turn into big disasters in various places. After the tragedy of refugees fleeing famine and their families being separated, there will be no one to develop new fields and build water conservancy projects.
facility?
But when we arrived in Yanshan County, water trucks were loading water trucks to repair canals. Tens of thousands of people were working enthusiastically within sight. The poor farmers did not feel forced at all when repairing the canals. Every one of them took the initiative. Especially some of them shouted.
They were all arranging, as if doing this physical work was a great joy. Lu Mengzheng saw a woman carrying two buckets of water to the construction site and passing water to other farmers. The joyful attitude of the owner made people feel that good days are just around the corner.
In front of us, a cylindrical waterwheel was placed on the bank of the Zhang River. Several farmers resting by the waterwheel experimentally shook it and drove some water into the canal. When the farmers saw the water, they all smiled happily.
.
Which family took the lead in building this water conservancy project? In Song Dynasty, there are still people who organize such a large water conservancy project and have such a vigorous place? Lu Mengzheng stopped the team and sent three soldiers to the construction site to inquire
, asked which family was repairing the canal. The three soldiers asked for a while and then ran back. Lu Mengzheng asked quickly: "Have you asked which family it is?" The soldier half knelt on the ground and shouted loudly.
He replied: "Let me ask you clearly, my lord, it was the general Yang Peng of Cangzhou who reclaimed private land and built the canal."
Lu Mengzheng was stunned, why is it Yang Peng again? This Yang Peng fought so hard that the Khitans were frightened by the news. How could he be so challenging in construction? The canals being built by more than 10,000 people looked like a big project at first glance. And it was still official.
What Bian Lv Meng was seeing, and how many projects there were that could not be seen? This was a huge undertaking.
Lu Mengzheng stroked his beard and thought for a while, then said: "This Yang Peng is building private land to make profits for himself. Why are these people working so enthusiastically and joyfully?" The soldier said: "Sir, it is slack time for farming now, and those people have nothing to do.
But for working for Yang Peng, you can get one, two or five yuan of silver a month, which is paid every half month and is never in arrears, so the hired farmers work hard one by one. And some of these farmers are newly hired by Yang Peng.
The tenant farmers will plant the land for them when it is opened, so they are very happy."
Lu Mengzheng thought for a long time and asked: "What is so happy about being a tenant farmer?" The soldier said: "I also asked, and those farmers said that the tenant farmers of the general's family are completely different from other families. First of all,
There is a lot of land, and a man or a strong woman can get twenty acres of land. Secondly, the land is good, and there are canals for irrigation, so that enough water can be poured. The general also shares the land with cattle to ensure a good harvest. Finally, the land rent is small, including the tax on military land.
, the general only collects 30% of the land rent for grain and returns the money to the grain, and the remaining 70% can be kept by the farmers. Calculated this way, the farmers will become rich in less than a year!"
"Because of this, the tenant farmers who were assigned the fields were so happy. It was as if the fields were white. They had to pay 30% of the grain, but Yang Peng would give back the money for the grain." Lu Mengzheng was stunned after hearing this.
After waiting for a long time, he said: "This Yang Peng killed the Khitan so fiercely on the battlefield, how can he be so kind to the farmers when he returned to Cangzhou?" However, he did the calculations, and roughly settled Yang Peng's account, and spat: "But this Yang Peng opened a new world
Tian is still profitable, and you can make a lot of money."
Lu Mengzheng seemed to be a little jealous of Yang Peng's organizational skills. He snorted coldly, waved his sleeves and said, "Let's go! Go to Tianjing New City and have a look!" When they reached the boundary of Tianjing New City, Lu Mengzheng became more and more surprised. That day in Tianjing New City
It seems that there were not many fields on the land, but along several small rivers, large canals were opened to irrigate new fields. Winter wheat had been harvested in those new fields, and they were all planted with a kind of low broad-leaved plant.
The broad-leaf plant Sun Chuanting knew was the corn that Zhejia failed to promote in Shaanxi. Because the corn harvest was high, Zhejia forced farmers to plant corn in Shaanxi, which almost triggered a civil uprising. However, the rotation of corn and winter wheat was a good plan.
Planting a season of corn a few months after the winter wheat is over can fill up the half-year agricultural slack period. People will not feel comfortable eating too much of that corn, but it is good pig food for feeding pigs.
But what surprised Lu Mengzheng was not the corn, but the wealthy villages near Xintian. There were no thatched huts in those villages, but brick houses, which were very solid. Moreover, those houses occupied a large area, and it was obvious that
It was added after a period of time. The colors of the bricks and tiles used in the newly built rooms are somewhat different from those of the original rooms, so they are combined together.
These farmers live well. Not only that, when those farmers walk out of their own yards, their shorts and shorts are not patched, and they are either brand new or used. The farmers all look good, not like farmers in other places.
He was very thin. There were bacon, dried fish and other dried foods hanging in the farmyards. These meats that farmers in other places could not eat during the New Year seemed to be common things that farmers in Fanjiazhuang ate every day. Sun Chuanting observed along the way and saw several farmers holding their arms.
With his trousers on, he sat leisurely in the yard smoking a pipe.
Can farmers afford to smoke dry cigarettes? In Shaanxi, even small landowners cannot afford to smoke dry cigarettes! As Lu Meng was walking, he had the illusion that he was not in the Song Dynasty. When Lu Meng was passing by a township market, he was even more shocked. Then
The market was bustling with people, and the people buying things were all nearby farmers. In the market, there were people who killed pigs and sold meat, chickens and ducks, vegetables and condiments, iron pots and pots, cloth and needlework.
Those who sell tobacco, tea, rice wine, soju, and even fruits and melons are all doing a good business. The people carry bamboo baskets to buy goods, return home loaded with goods, and bargain with the vendors in the market, which is very lively.
A rural town is more prosperous than the markets in other counties. There is a small winery next to the market. It is noon, and there are already many farmers rolling up their sleeves, drinking and eating vegetables, making loud noises. The store is overcrowded, and the tables are already
On the way to the outside, three waiters shuttled back and forth between the tables like butterflies, collecting money and serving food. They were very busy.
Lu Mengzheng took a closer look and even found four people holding a horse for sale next to the winery. The people selling horses had smiles on their faces and shouted at the people passing by from time to time. Those four horses were all
The draft horse is not a good horse, but this is the first time Lu Mengzheng has heard that someone will sell horses in a rural market town. At first glance, it is all Yang Peng's private land, but there are no landlords. Could it be that among the farmers in Tianjing New City,
Is there anyone rich enough to ride a horse?
Lu Meng was doing calculations in his mind quickly. If the land rent was 30%, the couple would farm forty acres of land. If one out of ten was a good farmer, he could harvest fifty dan of grain a year. After excluding the land rent, there would still be seventy taels of silver.
I can really afford a horse for seventy taels of silver, not counting the harvest from corn.
Lu Mengzheng then remembered that he had actually seen someone riding a horse on the official road just now. He hadn't noticed it just now and thought it was the Jin gentry family coming out of the city. Now that he thought about it, these people riding horses might be local farmers. The more Lu Mengzheng saw it, the more shocked he became.
, and then thinking about Shaanxi, a country thousands of miles away, where people are living in dire straits, Lu Mengzheng seems to have traveled through two worlds.
Lu Meng stopped on the official road beside the market and sighed absently: "This Yang Peng went into battle to kill one enemy against a hundred. He didn't expect that managing the territory could also benefit the people. He is really talented in civil and military affairs! No wonder the officials think so highly of him!"
If he had Yang Peng's ability to protect the environment and the people, where would there be Xixia in Shaanxi? Even Lu Mengzheng, who had always been conceited, was also shocked at this time and looked at Yang Peng again. Gritting his teeth, Lu Mengzheng shook his head.
said:
"Mounting to kill slaves and dismounting to enrich the people, Yang Peng's talent can even be a prime minister!" When they arrived at Tianjing New City, Yang Bamei, a newly promoted guard officer, received Lu Mengzheng and his party at the city gate, and took him into the city. Entering Tianjing
In Jingxin City, Lu Mengzheng was even more surprised.
From the outside, Tianjing New Town looks like a county town. After entering the city, I found that it is much more prosperous and tidy than the county town. The first impression is that it is clean and tidy. The city is so clean that it does not look like a city in the Song Dynasty. There are straight streets and two sides of the street.
There are spacious drainage ditches. There is no garbage or feces on the street. On both sides of the road are neat two-story villas. The walls of the villas are painted white and the roofs are covered with dark tiles. It is very spectacular at first glance.
.
A closer look revealed that the city was rich and prosperous. Most of the people on the street wore cotton round-necks. It was rare to see patches on the clothes. They were thrown away after they were worn out. Many citizens even wore silk.
He was straight forward and blended in with the crowd without being out of the ordinary. He seemed extremely normal.
Lu Mengzheng could see a few fat people every few steps he walked, and found that the proportion of fat people in Tianjing New City was much higher than that in other cities. There were one or two teahouses and restaurants on both sides of the road every few dozen steps, filled with wealthy people.
Citizens. Some teahouses have stages built on them, and various operas are being sung on the stage. The citizens below watch with gusto and cheer loudly from time to time. A boy comes down with an iron basin to collect the rewards. Those watching the opera
The citizens threw copper coins into the iron basin one after another, and soon the iron basin was covered with a thick layer.
There are many snack bars on both sides of the road, selling candied haws, roasted chestnuts, and Zhuangyuan sugar cream. They are everywhere. Some greedy women and children hold up copper coins and exchange them for candies in the store.
Lu Mengzheng was passing by a brothel and saw two pretty pinkheads standing at the door of the brothel, looking at him lovingly. Lu Mengzheng was not fond of the brothel, but he also knew that those pinkheads
Her appearance level is definitely prettier than the pink heads in the average brothel in the capital. The pink heads standing at the door are all this beautiful, and you can imagine the other pink heads in the brothel. In other words, the pimp old madam has made a lot of money in Fanjiazhuang.
I just bought the most beautiful powder head and started doing business here.
The wealth of this Tianjing New City is evident. Lu Mengzheng asked Yang Bamei: "General Yang, why are the people of this Tianjing New City so rich?"
Yang Bamei smiled and said: "In the general's industry, the workers only have to pay 20 to 20 yuan a month and have three meals a day with meat. Add in the more than 10,000 soldiers who have to pay 3 to 2 months a month, and there are a lot of people grabbing the money and looking for places to spend it. The whole Tianjing
There is extremely strong demand for all kinds of things in Xincheng. If you do any small business in Tianjing Xincheng, you can earn more than two taels of silver a month. As long as your hands and feet are a little more diligent, you can live a well-off life."
Lu Mengzheng took a breath and nodded. The security in the city was very good. From time to time, auxiliary soldiers with swords were seen patrolling in groups of ten. The thieves and thieves that were common elsewhere in the Song Dynasty were not seen anywhere in Tianjing New City.
After arriving and walking for a while, Lu Mengzheng noticed the details in the streets and alleys, and was even more surprised.
There are signs in many places in the city, and the name of each road is written on the wall, as if the people of Tianjing New City can understand it. There is an information board on every street, and there is an information board in front of each information board.
Dozens of people were standing there browsing. Lu Mengzheng went to take a look curiously and found that there were notices about Fanjiazhuang and national events copied from the Di newspaper on the information column. Those notices and copied articles were in the most understandable language.
It is written in a language that is accurate and easy to understand at a glance. It is not like the notices in other places that use exaggerated words in order to write parallel prose without regard for reality.
Lu Mengzheng walked a few steps forward and saw several children carrying school bags and holding the candies they just bought in their hands. They were jumping back on the street, as if they had just come out of school. A few steps further.
Stepping forward, Lu Mengzheng saw another group of children carrying school bags. Lu Mengzheng was surprised and asked Yang Bamei:
"Do all the children in Tianjing New City have money to go to school?" Yang Bamei smiled and said, "Sir, all the children of Tianjing New City who have reached the age go to the school opened by the general. There is no tuition fee."
After a pause, Yang Bamei continued: "In recent years, the general has promoted literacy. Most of the people in the city have learned to read on their own. Now at least 30% of them are literate."
Three adults are literate! Aren’t the people in Tianjing New City all well-educated people? This should not be underestimated. Lu Mengzheng was startled again and stared at the novel Tianjing New City with wide eyes. Lu Mengzheng walked all the way.
Surprisingly, Lu Meng just happened to reach the official hall of Tianjing New City. After entering the second hall, Lu Meng found Yang Peng waiting there.
When Lu Mengzheng saw Yang Peng, he took a breath, cupped his hands and said, "The general's Tianjing New City really impressed Lu Mengzheng." Yang Peng smiled, looked at Li Xing who was sitting beside him, and said: "
What did the Prime Minister see?" Now Zhang Xiang is the Minister of War in Tianjing New City, and this official office is nominally owned by Zhang Xiang. However, Yang Peng also often has some reception work, and has dominated the official office for a long time.
Lu Mengzheng raised his hands and said: "Lü Mengzheng saw the prosperity of the town and the prosperity of the people. The so-called paradise of kings is nothing more than this!" Yang Peng smiled and said: "The Prime Minister has given you the reward!" However, Lu Mengzheng did not let Yang Peng go and said
"I want to ask the general for advice on how to protect the country and the people. I hope the general will give you some advice." Yang Peng was stunned. He didn't expect that Lu Meng was getting into trouble with him and wanted to tell him the secret. This Lu Meng was originally an arrogant person.
However, he calls himself "I am an old man" in front of Yang Peng, which shows that he admires Yang Peng extremely.
After thinking about it, Yang Peng said, "If you want to make farmers rich, all you need to do is reclaim new fields and build water conservancy projects. My dragon tail water tanker is for sale, fifty taels per unit. Does the Prime Minister want to buy it?" Lu Mengzheng thought for a while.
, said: "Fifty-two units are worth the money. It's just that Tianjing New City is too far away from Bianjing, so it's really inconvenient to transport it there because I'm afraid it will be damaged on the road."
"If you don't want to buy a waterwheel, what are you going to buy in Tianjing New City?" Lu Mengzheng thought for a while and said, "I came to Tianjing New City this time to discuss with the general and want to buy some crossbows! General!
The crossbow is light and can kill dozens of Xixia thieves with one arrow. It is really sharp."
Yang Peng nodded and said: "I can also sell you some strong crossbows, but these strong crossbows can only be made once a month, so they can't be sold for many. I can sell you twenty at most." He said, "How much silver is one? Taibao
But it's cheaper, because the Western Army is very difficult and we really can't get much money out of it." "Six hundred taels per door, any less and you'll lose money."
Lu Mengzheng thought for a moment, gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, I'll buy twenty doors, which is twelve thousand taels." After a pause, Lu Mengzheng said again: "But I can't raise the money this month. I'll have to wait until September."
I only have a sum of money to pay the Taibao." Yang Peng knew that the Western Army was poor, so he smiled and said: "I will make strong crossbows first. In fact, I still have some strong crossbows in stock. When the money comes from the Prime Minister, I will just deliver them to the Prime Minister.
."
Lu Mengzheng nodded and said: "That's very good, thank you General." Lu Mengzheng chatted with Mrs. She again. In order to adapt to future naval battles, Yang Peng decided to make some grenades. At present, the only grenades that Yang Peng can make are
A black powder grenade with a matchlock fuse. To ignite this kind of grenade, you must carry a fire. It is very troublesome to carry a fire with you and affects the combat effectiveness of the troops.
For field battles, this kind of grenade is not very useful, because black powder grenades are very heavy, weighing at least seven or eight kilograms. If they are not so heavy, they have no power. And such heavy grenades cannot be thrown very far.
Twenty meters is good. At a distance of twenty meters, the enemy will rush up after running a few steps, and it is easy to avoid the damage of the grenade. Instead of throwing a grenade at the enemy, it is better to fire a shot.
Therefore, Yang Peng has never developed grenades. But if it is a naval battle, it is different. The space on the ship is narrow and the people are densely packed, which is where grenades come into play. During a naval battle, the ships are like two cities, with both
Guardrails block bullets, and attacking the opponent's ship is like siege. If the enemy hides under the ship's guardrail, the rifle cannot find the target, and cannot even shoot through the thick ship's guardrail. A boarding battle is like a siege, without grenades.
Often you can only fight the enemy hand to hand.
And with grenades, you can bomb the enemy. In a naval battle, when two ships are getting closer, whether the opponent is hiding behind the guardrail or the mast, throwing dozens of grenades over will blow the opponent into pieces. Moreover, grenades can be placed on ship buildings.
By bouncing upward, it can blow up enemy soldiers hiding on the lower deck - the entrances and exits between decks are very small, making it very inconvenient to get in and out. If there are no grenades, it can easily be defended by the opponent with a few matchlock guns or a few broadswords.
The earliest grenadiers in the West were configured for sieges. Yang Peng used grenades to attack enemy ships for the same reason. In order to win future naval battles, Yang Peng asked the craftsmen who were casting dragon-tailed vehicles to stop their work.
To start the work on hand grenades - Yang Peng has a large number of dragon tail carts in his warehouse, which are enough to meet the needs of this batch of newly reclaimed farmland, and there is no need to build new ones.
The hand grenade made by Yang Peng weighs eight kilograms, is covered with cast iron, and contains black powder and broken iron slag. The black powder is ignited and explodes, sending sharp iron slag into the surroundings, killing enemy personnel. The grenade is made below
A wooden handle with a fuse on it. The iron cover is usually screwed on top of the fuse and is only turned away when it is time to light it.
Yang Peng put the grenade next to the scarecrow and lit it, and found that this grenade could probably kill enemies within one step. This kind of lethality was also very impressive. Yang Peng was in Cangzhou and Dingzhou, where it was very convenient to buy saltpeter and gunpowder. Yang Peng
There was a lot of black powder material stored in the warehouse. The craftsmen in the Longwei Car Workshop made molds and soon cast more than two thousand hand grenades. Yang Peng put the grenades into the warehouse and prepared to arm future sailors.
What happened after all? Let’s look at the breakdown next time.